This invention relates to the retention of plastic wheel covers on vehicle wheels and more particularly to the retention of plastic wheel covers on the lug nuts of vehicle wheels.
It is known to retain vehicle wheels on vehicles by lug nuts, either locking or non-locking, which thread to the lugs of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,635 Brown et al, Plastic Vehicle Wheel Cover and U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,035 Kondo et al, Synthetic Resin Vehicle Wheel Cover show the retention of plastic wheel covers on vehicle wheels by the engagement of the ribbed ends of slotted or unslotted tubular extensions of the cover engaging annular grooves of the lug nuts. It is also known to provide a plastic wheel cover with flanged openings which receive externally threaded lug nuts and to retain the cover to the wheel by flanged plastic caps which thread to the lug nuts and engage the flanges of the cover openings. U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 415,751 Eshler et al, filed Oct. 2, 1989, Wheel Trim Retention, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,780, and assigned to the assignee of this invention discloses such a retention having the additional feature of retaining the plastic caps to the wheel cover so as to avoid loss.
The wheel cover retention of this invention is integral with the cover and includes a number of integral non-rotatable tubular extensions having internally spirally threaded axially outer portions which are slotted to provide a plurality of radially flexible internally threaded fingers. The fingers flex as the extensions are axially force fitted over externally threaded lug nuts. The thread to thread engagement of the fingers and the lug nuts securely retain the wheel cover to the wheel. The extent of axial engagement of the extensions with their respective lug nuts can vary so that the attitude of the wheel cover relative to the wheel opening can be adjusted. Thus, if the lug nuts are not all in the same radial plane, the cover can be adjusted to compensate for this and be located in the desired attitude relative to the wheel. Each cover extension further includes integral stops adjacent the axial termination of its internal spiral thread to limit the extent of engagement of the fingers with a respective lug nut and prevent jamming of the spiral thread of the lug nut within the unthreaded axially outer portion of the extension. The spiral threads of the lug nuts and of the extensions are truncated to lessen the force required to assemble and disassemble the extensions and the lug nuts.
The primary feature of this invention is that it provides an integral wheel cover retention which includes a plurality of integral annular extensions having radially flexible fingers which are internally spiral threaded and which radially flex as the wheel cover is forcibly assembled to and disassembled from externally spiral threaded lug nuts of the wheel. Another feature is that the extensions are partially slotted to provide the radially flexible fingers. A further feature is that the extensions are partially internally threaded and include limit stops to prevent jamming of the lug nuts in the unthreaded portions of the extensions. Yet another feature is that the retention permits the wheel cover to be adjusted relative to the plane of the wheel to compensate for misalignment of the lug nuts radially of the wheel. Yet a further feature is that the threads of the extensions and of the lug nuts are truncated to lessen the force required to assemble and disassemble the cover and the wheel.